Sunday, September 30, 2007

There’s a world we rarely see while walking through our daily lives of work, family and play. It’s a world of ghosts, earth spirits, demons and “spirit mimics” author Brad Steiger calls the Shadow World.

Steiger, who’s published 162 books since 1965 selling more than 17 million copies worldwide, first published “Shadow World: True Encounters with Beings from the Darkside,” in 2000. “Shadow World” has been re-released by Anomalist Books, giving readers another chance to peek into a world of darkness.

“There is a Shadow World that exists all around us, and when it impinges upon our ordinary plane of shared reality this dark dimension is sometimes frightening, occasionally menacing, but always worthy of cautious exploration,” writes Steiger, who has investigated ghosts, demons and UFOs since the 1950s.

So, let us enter Steiger’s Shadow World, a world of stories Steiger has collected over the decades, such as:

A Midwestern graduate student takes a drive through farm country to get his mind off an exam. In a small town he finds a midday Scandinavian festival and stopped to join the party. He not only discovers some of the residents claim to be his relatives, he finds a girl he is instantly attracted to – along with some men who instantly hate him.

After a day laughing and dancing with the girl she suddenly shuns him, and the men tell him to leave. He soon begins searching for her.

Weeks later, the student again meets some of the men who, when asked how they are related, reply, “we are related, but not in the way that you probably understand it … There are those among us who have some resentment toward your kind because truly, we were here first.” Then they tell him to give up his search for the girl.

Who were these people who were here “first?” In the Midwest, not Scandinavians, surely. Steiger calls them “spirit mimics;” beings who try to appear human for reasons unknown.

Steiger shows us glimpses into this Shadow World that uncover spirit possession, nature spirits, devils, American Indian spirit encounters, spirit parasites, and pet spirits that may not be man’s best friend.

A couple moves into a house in Birmingham, England, in May 1955, and immediately find something from the Shadow World is at work in their home. It starts as unexplained noises – doors slamming, low whispers, and an invisible dog running across the floor. One night their infant son dies. His brother later says, “On the night the baby left us, the little dog was sitting on the baby’s face.”

The Shadow World is as real as our own, and just as deadly, Steiger says.

“Shadow World” shows us a place we should strive to recognize, strive to prepare ourselves for, and strive to avoid. Yes, these are “true encounters with beings from the darkside,” and “Shadow World” acts as a handbook for people troubled with entities beyond our reality. A handbook, yes, but one that is convincing, frightening and fun to read.

Enjoy.

Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to the Show-Me State’s Most Spirited Spots,” is available now. Order it from amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com or tsup.truman.edu. Visit Jason’s Web site, www.jasonoffutt.com, for his other books.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

A plastic triangle skittered across the surface of a game board. A group of preteen girls, including Inez Pace of St. Louis, didn’t believe anything supernatural moved the piece because, after all, the Ouija board was a toy.

“Early in my teenage years, my friends and I would often play with the Ouija board when we would have sleepovers,” Inez said. “We would ask harmless questions as to how many children we’d have, who we’d marry, etc.”

Nothing really out of the ordinary happened to the girls during their play sessions, “and certainly nothing too scary,” Inez said. The friends eventually outgrew their interest in Ouija boards until the spring semester of 1983 while Inez attended Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

“One boring night, my dorm mates and I decided to use the common room’s Ouija board,” Inez said. “At first it seemed harmless enough. We’d ask silly questions and our spirit named Sarah would answer us.”

Inez and her friends were quickly entrapped by the board, feeling “compelled to use the board as often as possible.” Then a friend named Tracy from another floor attended a Ouija session, and their harmless play turned sinister.

“We started asking Sarah how she died, how old she was when she died, and finally what she looked like,” Inez said.

Sarah told the coeds she died at 23 when she was hit by a runaway horse and carriage. But Sarah’s answer to the final question sent the girls running.

“When we asked Sarah what she looked like, she spelled out ‘like Tracy only different eyes,’” Inez said.

One young woman in the group asked Sarah to show them.

“Tracy was a red head with green eyes,” Inez said. “Sarah spelled out for us to look at Tracy and instantly her eyes turned blue and her facial features became sharper.”

Tracy screamed and said an electrical current had run through her body.

“We all became excited and told Tracy what happened,” Inez said. “Of course, she wanted to see it, too.”

Sarah spelled out for Tracy to take a mirror and look in the window behind her. As Tracy looked into the mirror, she saw someone standing in the room’s window – a window that looked over a treeless courtyard from three floors up.

“We looked and saw what appeared to be a head looking in at us,” Inez said. “We asked the spirit, ‘are you Sarah?’ It went to ‘no,’ so we asked, ‘who are you?’”

The girls didn’t wait for the entity’s entire response.

“It started to spell S-A-T-A … that was enough for that me,” Inez said. “I knocked the center piece off of the board and told everyone to go to their rooms. We were pretty frightened – the (figure in the window) did not look like a lady at all.”

As Inez struck the center piece off the board, the room grew cold enough the students saw their breath. They ran from Inez’s room to another girl’s room and began praying.

“We were so frightened that none of us could sleep; we held vigil that evening to make sure nothing was going on in my room,” Inez said. “Around 2:30 a.m., we decided to get a snack from the vending machine and as we walked by my door, the alarm clock went off. It had been set for 6:30 a.m.”

One of the girls entered Inez’s room to shut off the alarm and found the windows thrown open and sheets pulled off the beds.

“As she bent down to turn it off the alarm, the two necklaces she was wearing became entwined and started to choke her,” Inez said. “When she got to the hallway she removed her necklaces and noticed that the cross had been moved from one chain to the other. That was enough for us.”

When the sun rose, the girls went to the Catholic house on campus and told the priest what had happened.

“He came to my room that day and blessed it with holy water,” Inez said. “He also removed the board from the dorm and burned it. We got a stern lecture that as Catholics we should know better than to use something like that.”

Inez graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in communications and theater in 1987. But she didn’t live in that dorm room for much of that time.

“It took me a while to get the courage to return to my room to sleep, and even then I always had someone stay in the room with me,” Inez said. “The following year I requested a different dorm to reside in.”

Copyright 2007 by Jason Offutt

Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Include your name, address and telephone number. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”

Jason's book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri's Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Mary moved into an old farmhouse outside St. Louis in February 2006, away from highways, concrete oceans and close neighbors. She generally stayed alone and things were relatively quiet … until something came into her home.

“Shortly after (moving in), on a whim I bought a book about spirit summoning, spells and other bits of magic,” she said. ”I thought it would be fun to try a spell, so I did. Nothing life altering, something cute and mild, although it escapes me what I was trying to do at the time.”

Casting the first spell roused her curiosity further, so she tried more. That’s when her trouble began.

“I have always had a mild interest in the occult, and also enjoy a good scare now and again,” she said. “But I am beginning to wonder if I might not have created some problems for myself unintentionally.”

Mary may have invited negative entities into her home. According to “Disciple To Magic” by Rev. Lucian Agrippa Melampus’ Paul, spells and rituals “open the spiritual doors to powers and forces unseen;” doors that may best remain closed.

As the spells increased, strange shadows began appearing to Mary.

“It seemed the more I did the more I began to see these shadow people,” Mary said. “At first it was just out of the corner of my eye and only for a fleeting few seconds.”

But the shadows moved in and made themselves at home. Mary stopped casting spells, but the shadows have not left her.

“They continued to progress, however, to a point where they were no longer just out of the corner of my eye, and while they wouldn’t sit down and have a cup of coffee, they seemed to linger,” she said. “I have a feeling both my cat and my dog see them even better than I do, as they will throw fits for no reason even in broad daylight.”

The back door to Mary’s home started opening on its own, straight razor blades have began appearing in odd places around her house, and the shadows have become bolder.

“I’m not just seeing shadow people anymore; I’m seeing actual things with color and features. It is rare, but it does happen,” she said. “I’m also beginning to hear things.”

Mary’s heard her name screamed in the house at night while sleeping, and during the day when she’s fully awake.

“I don’t have close neighbors, so its not just ambient noise,” she said. “I’ve also heard music. It’s pretty faint, but if I concentrate I can hear the words.”

Dawn, a medium from southern Missouri, is familiar with opening these spiritual doors. During an emotionally stressful time as a teen, she opened one – and let something out.

“They are very dangerous,” she said. “(People) begin to open up the doorways of communication with the other side.”

Negative energies come through these doorways, she said.

“I actually had something evil in my house; this very large dark presence,” Dawn said. “From 18 to 21 I tried hard to ignore it. The more I tried to ignore it, the more things moved in my house. People who haven’t experienced that think it’s make believe … You have to deal with it.”

Mary hasn’t dealt with it. The visitations continue and she’s beginning to doubt her sanity.

“Is it really real?” Mary asked. “I’m really worried that I might be becoming a schizophrenic.”

Or maybe she’s just the host of a house guest she didn’t want to invite.

Copyright 2007 by Jason Offutt

Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Include your name, address and telephone number. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”

Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: https://tsup.truman.edu/store/ViewBook.aspx?Book=849 or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Author's note: As my loyal readers know, I took a few months off from the blog to work on my new book, "Never to Far From Home: UFOs, Ghosts, Bigfoot and the Gates of Hell" (I’m making progress), and to promote my current book "Haunted Missouri" (which is selling quite well ... thank you). Now I'm back, and the poll I posted overwhelmingly (65 percent) requested a ghost story, so here it is: The Ghost of Dugan Lane. Enjoy.

Dugan Lane runs north along Indian Creek through the wooded, hilly landscape of southern Missouri. It lies near a small town that boasted a tomato cannery during the Great Depression.

The town is almost empty now, but this story isn’t about the town, it’s about a young woman who lived near the town at the turn of the 20th century.

Amanda Dawn is a fictitious name given to the young woman by Ozark author Ronnie Powell who promised family members and witnesses he’d never use real names, and, for the sake of Ronnie’s pledge, the town’s nameless, too. The house Amanda lived in isn’t there anymore; it burned several years ago, but Ronnie knows Amanda’s still there – he’s talked with people who’ve seen her.

“I’ve talked to people who say they actually saw the ghost of Dugan Lane,” Ronnie said. “Two or three of the last surviving people who witnessed the ghost – they’re dead now – and to them it was real. The ghost of Dugan Lane has some legend and truth in it.”

Amanda lived in a house at the bottom of a hill with her husband and toddler, Roberta. One morning, Amanda sat Roberta on the floor and started preparing breakfast. When she turned to look for Roberta, Roberta was gone.

“Roberta got curious,” Ronnie said. “She tried to pick up a cricket and it hopped out the door and she went with it.”

Roberta wandered into the well house and fell into the well.

“Amanda heard her scream and ran looking for her,” Ronnie said. “The only thing she saw was Roberta’s hand disappearing in the dark water below. They tried for days and days to find the body and never did.”

Depression consumed Amanda. She sat staring at nothing for days.

“A few days later she walked out to the road as her husband went to the corn field. Then went and jumped into the well,” Ronnie said. “They found her body.”

For years after the tragedy, people saw Amanda walking the road crying out for Roberta.

“The last time she’s been sighted, strangely, was about a year ago,” Ronnie said. “There’s no house there or nothing, but this woman said she saw a woman dressed in an old tattered gown with long black hair. She didn’t know anything of this story.”

Ronnie stayed in the old house one night, waiting and watching for Amanda’s ghost, but she never appeared.

“There are areas and there are buildings that have very (strange) activities,” he said. “I’m not afraid of ghosts and would like to see one and visit it. I’m on the upper end of non-believing, but there are things that are unexplained.”

Ronnie’s had an interest in ghosts, and writing, all his life – he’s written six books and published two. His account of the ghost of Dugan Lane was published in the premiere issue of Country Folk Magazine.

As the years, and decades slip past, and people forget the story of Amanda and Roberta, a silent witness keeps vigil on Dugan Lane.

“Whatever happens down there keeps happening,” Ronnie said. “She’s still looking for her little girl.”

Ronnie’s book, “South Through Bare Foot Pass,” is available in some local Ozark stores or by e-mailing him at captredoak@centurytel.net.

His second book, “Tiddleson Son of Tiddle” – an Ozark fantasy adventure – is available at Powell's Web site: www.ronniepowellproductions.com.

Copright 2007 by Jason Offutt

Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Include your name, address and telephone number. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”

Jason's book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri's Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: https://tsup.truman.edu/store/ViewBook.aspx?Book=849 or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.

About Me

Jason Offutt is a syndicated columnist, author, college journalism instructor, and fan of all things strange. His books include the novel, "A Funeral Story," the parody survival book, "How to Kill Monsters Using Common Household Items," the humorous travelogue, "Across a Corn-Swept Land," and four books about the paranormal, "Paranormal Missouri: Show Me Your Monsters," "What Lurks Beyond: The Paranormal In Your Backyard," "Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us," and “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri's Most Spirited Spots.” All are available at www.amazon.com.
Jason is available for interviews, speaking engagements and beer festivals. E-mail all serious inquiries to: sjasonoffutt@gmail.com.